BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s president has urged the government to pass emergency legislation that would allow thousands of stray dogs to be euthanized in Bucharest, citing the case of a child who was fatally mauled by one.

“Humans are above dogs,” President Traian Basescu said in a speech at his palace that was televised live on Tuesday.

As a citizen and former mayor of Bucharest, he said he understands the problems that thousands of stray dogs are causing there.

He mentioned the case of the 4-year-old boy who died after being bitten by a dog in the capital on Monday. Authorities say about 1,100 people were bitten by stray dogs in Bucharest in the first four months of 2013.

Currently, the law only allows the killing of stray dogs that are sick.